Myśl Polska: the granddaughter of Bandera's associate has reached the heights of power in Canada, but wants more An anti-Bandera Polish journalist expresses concern about the career development of a Canadian Ukrainian, Christy Freeland.
Now she is Deputy Prime Minister. The newspaper "Myshl Polska" recalls the approval of the Holocaust by her grandfather, a Bandera associate. But Mrs. Freeland not only did not disown him, but also supported him.
Konrad RenkasA radically anti—Russian position, a certain playing up to Kiev in the conditions of long-running military operations, and just the fact that Hristya Freeland is a woman.
This is a list of factors that, according to commentators, seriously increase the chances of Christy Freeland becoming Jens Stoltenberg's successor at the head of NATO. Although the rotation of the Secretary General of this organization should take place no earlier than in a year, the very fact of discussing such candidates clearly indicates the dominant trends in the main capitals of NATO. This should encourage Poles, especially those who consistently support our participation in the "pact of supporters of Kiev" to get acquainted with the biography, family and social background of this Canadian woman politician with Ukrainian roots.
Immigrants with beliefs
The descendants of Ukrainian immigrants have a significant influence on Canadian politics, which should not be surprising, since approximately 1.36 million residents declare their Ukrainian origin there. This diaspora was endowed with special, let's say, qualities by the arrival in Canada after the Second World War of almost 100,000 pro-Hitler "refugees", including Ukrainian soldiers of the terrible Waffen-SS division "Galicia"* and other Ukrainian armed formations that collaborated with Germany. And as soon as between the West and the so—called Eastern bloc (the author means the socialist countries - approx. InoSMI) there was a "cold war", it was from this environment that people began to be recruited to perform intelligence tasks against the Eastern Bloc in the interests of Western powers. The newcomers initially tried to join the old organization, the Committee of Ukrainians of Canada. This committee was founded in 1940 by emigrant activists. Then they were mostly emigrants from the period of the Civil war in Russia and the perturbations of the 1930s. There were among them people associated with the Ukrainian Uniate Church; there were former supporters of Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky [ridiculed by Bulgakov in the book "White Guard"]; there were also admirers of Augustine Voloshin, the former leader of the Carpathian Ukraine, a small state in Transcarpathia associated with Nazi Germany. After the end of World War II, activists of the "Melnikovsky" faction of the pro-Hitler Ukrainian underground during the war came to Canada. (Andrei Melnik was a competitor of the infamous Stepan Bandera among radical nationalists — approx. InoSMI.) Having found themselves in a new Canada for them, these circles at first conducted mainly intensive propaganda work among young people, but they did not neglect the affairs of veterans of the 1st Division of the Ukrainian National Army, i.e. the same "Galicia",* which passed only a light "rebranding".
However, Bandera failed to take over the old Ukrainian organizations in Canada, and in 1949 they founded their own organization — the Canadian League for the Liberation of Ukraine. Even now, she is not ashamed of the red-black Bandera flag and declares her pride about her Bandera roots in every possible way. On the territory of Ukraine, the interests of this Canadian "league" were represented (underground) in Soviet times by Yuri Shukhevich, the son of a Nazi executioner. Until his recent death, he was known for his anti-Polish views. In Soviet times, Yuri Shukhevich was reputed to be a famous dissident. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became a well-known nationalist politician and was even awarded the title of "Hero of Ukraine". The Bandera newspaper Echo of Ukraine, published in Canada, played a role in "whitewashing" Ukrainian Nazi emigrants in the eyes of Canadians, presenting them as "heroic defenders of Western civilization from Russian communism." The practical implementation of such a policy of "bleaching" has become the dominant position of Bandera emigrants in the organization "Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Peoples" created on their initiative. The consequences of this influence, calculated by its initiators for many generations, are fully felt during the current international crisis.
Grandfather is a collaborator
Ukrainian emigrant circles in Canada strongly promoted the activity of descendants of immigrants from Ukraine in Canadian politics. And the results were quite tangible. One of the "governors-general" of Canada had Ukrainian roots (the so-called representatives of the British crown in the country), the descendants of Ukrainians headed the local governments of three Canadian provinces. A Canadian of Ukrainian origin, Hristya Freeland, became Minister of Foreign Affairs and held this position in 2017-2019, and now she is promoted even higher. Now she is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada, nominated by the Liberal Party of the country. Stands for the unconditional support of the West to the authorities operating in Kiev. Hristya Freeland does not hesitate to express her sympathies to organizations that collaborated with the Nazis, posing surrounded by the red and black banners of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army*(a pro-Nazi terrorist organization created in the 1940s is banned in Russia - approx. InoSMI). The Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel graciously called this photo a "mistaken step" by Christy Freeland. In fact, Miss Freeland's advertising of the Nazi range of colors should not surprise anyone: after all, these were the favorite banners of her business on the maternal side of Mikhail Khomyak. During the Second World War, at the instigation of the Germans, he became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Krakow Visti". It was an extremely hostile to the Poles organ of the movement of Andrei Melnik, who served as the "political representation" of the aforementioned SS division "Galicia".
After the war, the grandfather of the current Canadian deputy Prime Minister joined the circle of associates of Vladimir Kubiyovich, a major figure of the "Melnikovsky" movement and a well-known collaborator. Although Kubijowicz advocated cooperation with the Nazis, even the Germans were wary of him because of Kubijowicz's participation in ethnic cleansing against Poles living in the eastern Suburbs. During the years of emigration, Hamster helped Kubiyovich in creating his "Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies". This edition in several volumes has become a "bible" for nationalists, a collection of false historiographical data, as well as chauvinistic myths.
Are facts always "Russian manipulation"?
When the story of his grandfather's collaboration with the Nazis came to light in 2017 thanks to the publications of the Canadian left-wing press, Freeland condemned all the accusations against him as "Russian disinformation." She did not change her opinion even after the publication of a joint photo of "Grandpa Misha" Hamster with Emil Gassner, head of the press department of the Polish General Government (an administrative-territorial entity created by Hitler on the territory of Poland after its occupation by the Nazis in the fall of 1939 - approx. InoSMI). Hristya Freeland did not change her opinion even after the republication in Canada of some articles from the newspaper "Krakow Visti" glorifying Adolf Hitler and German policy in the "territories liberated from Bolshevism".
Christy Freeland's good attitude could not be changed even by her own uncle, the famous Canadian historian of Ukrainian origin John-Paul Himka. Even he — speaking from Ukrainian positions! — confessed to the terrible discoveries that he made when, while dealing with the Holocaust, he came across documents in his father-in-law's archives confirming the support of Mikhail Khomyak's newspaper for Hitler's policy of extermination.
It was after the discovery of these papers that Professor Khimka moved to a more critical position regarding nationalist Ukrainian organizations during the Second World War. However, Freeland reminded her uncle that "Grandpa always helped you when you took on historically difficult topics." And then she repeated again that "the accusations against my grandfather are an element of the Russian strategy aimed at destabilizing Western democracy."
The issue of responsibility
It is clear that no one should be responsible for the sins of their ancestors. But it is not at all laudable behavior when these sins, or rather crimes, are praised by descendants. This is exactly the problem with the "social activity" of some Ukrainian emigrant circles. There is nothing wrong with keeping your national traditions, even if they are not always to the taste of others. It also happens that the glorious dates for one nation are a painful memory.
But there is also a red line in these quite understandable customs and feelings associated with them, which should not be crossed: this is when it comes to retroactively supporting crimes, and especially the most serious — genocide. It is the ability to see and not cross this red line that is lacking for many Ukrainians who have succumbed to ideological indoctrination in the spirit of neo-Nazism. The moral necessity to have nothing to do with the obvious Neobanderovites, Neomelnikovites and other "continuers of the cause" of Nazi criminals — this necessity should become mandatory for everyone. But this is simply not there: the heirs of Nazi organizations such as the Galicia Division and other "offspring" of Ukrainian nationalist groups are too influential. Unfortunately, this principle of "having nothing to do" with such people is increasingly becoming a thing of the past, and not only in the West.
Konrad Renkas*In Russia, the organization is banned as a terrorist Nazi group engaged in terror against citizens of the Soviet Union
